Fleetwood Mac at The 3 Arena, Dublin, on June 20th 2015

Fleetwood Mac’s performance in the 3Arena on Saturday 20th June marks the 93rd stop on the band’s current world tour. The concert, which sold-out in minutes, prompted a further two Dublin shows later in July proving demand is higher than ever. And let’s not forget there’s an extra addition this time – songbird Christine McVie makes a welcome return to the group following a sixteen year break from the band.

When the evening arrives, the arena is bursting at the seams and the atmosphere is electric with anticipation. There is no support act tonight, no over the top production or ridiculous lighting rigs; the focus is solely on the main attraction and rightly so.

Shortly after 8pm Fleetwood Mac grace the stage and kickstart the performance with an exceptionally tight rendition of The Chain. The vocals are on point, ferocious and in sync. The footstomping line “And if you don’t love me now, you will never love me again” is emphatic and accompanied by jangly guitar riffs from Buckingham. Stevie Nicks struts around the stage as cool as ice, tambourine in hand with one of her iconic wispy scarves dangling from it.

Following the sunny McVie led hit You Make Loving Fun, Nicks takes a moment to welcome Christine back to the band before launching into the number one hit, Dreams. The performance of the legendary tune is unfortunately not quite the mesmerising showstopper as expected and borders on slightly lacklustre at times, possibly due to the amount it has been performed over the years. However, this is quickly rectified with an enchanting performance of Rhiannon.

Midway through the set Buckingham is left to his own devices as the rest of the band take a breather. His solo performance of Tango in the Night’s Big Love is one of the highlights of the evening as his rip-roaring vocals “Looking out for love” slash through the air forcefully.

Lights twinkle on a black backdrop as Nicks returns to the stage to join Buckingham for Landslide. What follows is an intimate, gentle performance by the duo. “Well, I’ve been afraid of changing ‘cos I’ve built my life around you” is a particularly emotive and wistful line delivered by Nicks and silences the arena. This segment is musical storytelling at its finest and songs such as Never Going Back Again highlight the pair’s rare ability of writing and performing songs written about each other.

Other notable highlights include Everywhere, Gypsy, Little Lies and of course, Go Your Own Way which spurs a full blown sing-a-long from the audience. Mick Fleetwood’s drum solo adds a few minutes of delightful madness to the end of the set.

Before bidding farewell to the crowd, Nicks explains that Dublin holds a particularly special place in the band’s heart and history. When McVie wanted to rejoin the group, Nicks told her she should travel to Dublin and watch two concerts in a row before making her mind up. McVie accepted the offer and following the shows made the decision to rejoin Fleetwood Mac. “Dublin has magical powers” says Nicks “stay in the groove.”

It’s tricky to summarise the evening’s performance as the show is two and a half hours of back to back hits from their vast collection. A Fleetwood Mac concert is certainly one any music lover should tick off their bucket list. This is a first class tour from one of the biggest and best bands in the world. Count yourself lucky if you managed to get tickets to the July gigs as there’s one hell of a show in store for you.